Le port de Collioure

Henri Martin purchased a house in Collioure in 1923. He knew the village well, as his old friend Henri Marre spent part of every year there, but it was not until he was in his sixties that he put down roots there. Located at the foot of the Pyrénées near the Spanish border, Collioure had served as the backdrop for some of the most significant Fauve paintings by Matisse, Derain and Signac in 1905. By the 1920s, however, this sleepy fishing village had been discovered by an ever-growing tourist industry, attracted by its charm and temperate Mediterranean climate. Nonetheless, the village managed to retain much of its remote and unspoilt character. Just as he had done at Marquayrol, Martin meticulously oversaw every detail of the renovations on his house. He also rented a studio overlooking the port, a scene which recurs in his most successful compositions from this time. The present work presents a sweeping view of the bay drenched in the southern light which characterises much of Martin's work. The harmony of the composition, with its rampart walls, village homes and, in the foreground, fishing boats festively adorned with flags, perfectly illustrates Martin's interest in recording both the interplay of light on objects and the rhythmic orchestration of line and geometric pattern.